Apple Days

Fall tradition day! Got a good deal on a peck of West Virginia Mountaineer apples so today is apple butter day. MMM good!

This is the first time in a few years that I had to actually buy apples for apple butter as I can usually find some no one wants. The trees at Hembree farm didn't fruit this year which has been a good source.

Let's End the Secrecy of the Federal Reserve

Via Firedoglake:

Alan Grayson and Ron Paul have offered an amendment calling for a full audit of the Fed, and they have the support of nearly three-quarters of Congress. But in a last minute power play by the big banks, Rep. Mel Watt will dutifully offer an amendment to not only gut the audit, but make the Fed even more secretive.

Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Leo Gerard, President of the Steelworkers Union, all signed a letter with economists, labor leaders, and bloggers blasting Rep. Mel Watt’s amendment to gut the audit of the Federal Reserve.

Trumka, Stern, and Gerard teamed up economists Bill Black and Jamie Galbraith and blogger Tyler Durden, among others, against Watt’s amendment and accused the Fed of “massive secret bailouts” and “cronyism and favoritism.” Their letter says:

The Federal Reserve balance sheet expanded to more than $2 trillion, along with implied and explicit backstops to Wall Street firms that could cost even more. Who received the money? Against what collateral? On what terms and conditions? The only way to find out is through a complete audit of the Federal Reserve. That’s why we support the Paul-Grayson amendment requiring a complete audit.

The Watt amendment does not repeal the existing provisions that prohibit a GAO audit of the Federal Reserve. In fact, it adds entirely new additional categories of restrictions. Instead of opening up the Fed’s secretive activities to public inspection, the Watt amendment cloaks it in further secrecy.

A vote for the Watt amendment is a vote for more secret bailouts. We urge you to support Paul-Grayson instead.

For labor leaders who don’t often see eye-to-eye this letter should tell you how important this is. This is a strong indictment of the Fed, the big banks, and their 'boys' in Congress.

You can add your name to their letter to call for a full audit of the Fed. Click here to add your name to our petition to reject more secret bailouts and Fed cronyism.

Senate Health Care Reform Proposal

Jane Hamsher at FDL speaks for me. The bill sucks. It delays the pre-existing condition change until 2014. It allows states to opt out immediately. It allows drug companies to prevent generics of of 'biologics'. It mandates coverage but doesn't guarantee you can actually get good insurance.

This bill just proves, once again, that the Senate is dysfunctional and undemocratic...the filibuster, allowing one Senator to prevent good legislation is insane.

Senator Reid should immediately move to the reconciliation process and get a bill that the majority will support and tell Nelson, Lieberman and Lincoln to pound sand.

Palin-o-lithic

One of the best lines I have read so far concerning Caribou Barbie's book release/tour is from Attaturk at FDL.

This “Palin-o-lithic” era is becoming a never ending elementary school production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle with only kazoo accompaniment.

That's a memorable line.

Frightening Statistic

From TPM.

The 140 Army suicides so far this year equal the total from all of 2008 -- and almost equal the 142 U.S. troops from all the services killed in Iraq so far this year.

There is something seriously wrong when our soldiers are killing themselves as fast as the enemy is killing them.

No On Oyster Safety

Just in case you are a raw oyster lover you might want to read Marion's entire post over at Food Politics:

On November 13, the FDA announced indefinite postponement of rules requiring raw oysters from the Gulf of Mexico to undergo postharvest processing to destroy their content of Vibrio vulnificus, a particularly nasty “flesh-eating” bacterium. According to accounts in the New York Times and in industry newsletters, the FDA caved under pressure from the oyster industry and members of Congress representing oyster-harvesting regions in the Gulf.

The thing is that you can eat raw oysters that come from cold waters pretty safely. You shouldn't eat oysters from warm waters like the Gulf of Mexico unless they have been treated postharvest. There are several methods that yield non toxic oysters available, it's just that the industry doesn't want to invest in them and would rather see the 15 or so people who die each year from Vibrio vulnificus to just keep on dying. Simple economics!

As a consumer you should know the risks and then make your own decisions about eating raw Gulf oysters. BTW it is a pretty nasty infection though the infection is considered 'low mortality'. There is also no known effective treatment.

Leonid Meteors Tonight

If you are a space geek then don't forget that tonight is the show. The Leonid meteor shower is due across the Americas in the wee dawn hours on Nov 17th. The best time should be between 3am and sunrise. We are fortunate that we have a new moon tonight so the sky will be extra dark.

Leek and Potato Soup

Now that we've talked about hunger in America(shameful) let's talk about food. Leek and Potato soup is one of the easiest soups there are to make and one of the most delicious and it is a perfect fall and winter meal. If you don't regularly cook with leeks(or never have) then this is a great way use them and be introduced as well. Leeks are in the same family as onions, shallots and garlic but are milder in flavor and once you have tried them you will be hooked as I am.

For 6 to 8 portions you'll need:
4 cups of thinly sliced leeks - this is usually about 3 good sized leeks
4 cups of diced potato ( I prefer Yukon Gold but Russet works too)
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic (optional)
6 to 7 cups of water or for a richer soup, low sodium chicken broth ( I like Swanson's Organic or better homemade)
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 c sour cream or creme fraiche (optional)

Only use the white and some of the light green part of the leeks. The dark green leaves are just too tough and fibrous to eat. Make sure you wash them carefully as they tend to have sand down in the leaves. The best way I've found is to leave the root attached and cut away all of the dark green leaves. Split the leeks lengthwise in half and then hold the leaves under running water spreading each leaf to get all of the sand out. This is important. You can also just chop them and put the chopped leeks in a colander and rinse them. Whatever. After they are clean discard the root and then finely slice them.

I usually saute the leeks and garlic in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil for about 5 minutes before I add the potatoes and water but you can just put all of the leeks, garlic, potatoes and water(or stock) into a heavy bottomed pot such as a dutch oven or stock pot and simmer them for about 30 minutes or until nice and tender. I think the brief saute adds some depth. Once eveything is cooked I normally run my immersion blender through it a few times to thicken it up but that's just personal taste. I'll also add the sour cream and blend it in at the end. You can, of course, serve it 'natural' and just put a dollop of sour cream on each serving. Some nice crusty bread and a salad and you are good for a nice warming meal on a cool night. With all the chopping and dicing this will probably take and hour from start to finish and is well worth the investment in time.

I should say here that the traditional soup, which is French, is made with just water, leeks and potatoes. I usually make mine with chicken stock and garlic but I am a garlic lover. The leeks are plenty flavorful in themselves without the garlic. Needless to say, I use water when I am cooking for vegetarians and the soup is very good even without the chicken stock.

I might also add that with a slight reduction in the starting liquid and an increase in the sour cream(2/3 cup) and a good puree and chill you have the famous Vichyssoise. I prefer this soup hot but if you want to try it cold, go for it.

Of course, you can make this soup with onions instead of leeks but you will miss the mild rich flavor of the leeks. If you do use onions go for a sweet onion like Vidalia, Walla Walla or a red onion.

One more thing, you can also make a very nice soup by adding a 28 oz can of plum tomatoes and reducing the water or stock appropriately. Made with onions instead of leeks, potatoes and tomatoes it sometimes called 'Hoover Soup' as it was a common soup found in the soup lines during the depression. There's your food trivia for the day.

More Hungry

According to this piece in The Washington Post:

The number of Americans who lack dependable access to adequate food shot up last year to 49 million, the largest number since the government has been keeping track, according to a government report released Monday that shows particularly steep increases in food scarcity among families with children.

In 2008, the report found, nearly 17 million children -- more than one in five across the United States -- were living in households in which food at times ran short, up from slightly more than 12 million children the year before. And the number of children who sometimes were outright hungry rose from nearly 700,000 to almost 1.1 million.

Among people of of all ages, nearly 15 percent last year did not consistently have adequate food, compared with about 11 percent in 2007, the greatest deterioration in access to food during a single year in the history of the report.

Absolutely shameful!

This country needs to seriously reconsider the amount of money we are investing in war in light of the growing number of hungry people. The proposed 2010 budget for the DOD is 664 billion dollars and represents a 7% increase(you do the math) over 2009. WTF?

Before my recent 'early retirement' I was trying to make monthly contributions to the Atlanta Community Food Bank but I had to stop for obvious reasons and while such contributions are good and help they are not the answer. I am probably not the only one that has had to trim my charitable contributions and regardless, community food banks are not the solution and only meager stopgap. This shouldn't be happening in the greatest economy in the world, deficits or not. Hungry adults are one thing but children going hungry or being undernourished is criminal. Children deprived of proper nutrition will impact the qualityof the next generation in many ways and while we may not be able to give every child everything they need to "be the best they can be" we can at least not challenge them with hunger on top of the other problems we are 'gifting' them with.

Two Faced

What a bastard. Sen. Tom Coburn, the ultra right GOP jerk from Oklahoma doesn't have any trouble at all throwing money at the sundry unnecessary wars and likewise doesn't appear to lose a wink of sleep whilst sending American soldiers to be killed or maimed in far away places for dubious reasons. He does have a problem when it comes to dealing with the results of his warmongering though.

Even though the bill to consolidate veterans benefits passed through committee unanimously Mr. Coburn singlehandedly is blocking allowing it to come to a vote. He thinks the 3.7 billion over 5 years should be offset by reducing other spending. All the money for war but nothing for its aftermath.

The Republican Senator from Oklahoma is one sick puppy.

h/t Steve

Hand Wringing Alert!

Lock up the women and children and round up all the livestock...break out the duct tape! Our dithering, socialist leader is going to bring Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the 9/11 mastermind, to New York City for trial in civilian court. In spite of all the dangers and warnings from the far right wingnuts he is going to do it anyway.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and four other men accused in the plot will be prosecuted in federal court in New York City, a federal law enforcement official said early on Friday.

But the administration will prosecute Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri -- the detainee accused of planning the 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen -- and several other detainees before a military commission, the official said.

The decisions to give civilian prosecutors detainees accused of the 2001 terrorist attacks and keep the case of the Cole attack within the military system are expected to be announced at the Department of Justice later on Friday by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

Get ready, because you are going to hear the screaming from wingnuttia, once again, about how our criminal justice system couldn't possibly hear a case against a terrorist suspect. Never mind all the U.S. criminal courts that have already successfully heard cases against terrorist suspects. What's even worse is that if KSM is convicted he will end up in an American super secure prison that can't possibly manage to hold terrorists. Never mind all the terrorists that are already safely locked away in American prisons.

There is going to be widespread panic on the right over this, despite all the evidence to the contrary. All of the usual suspects from mini Cheney to Rove are going to be howling for weeks over this monstrous development. You have to ask yourself why they are so afraid of KSM getting a fair trial.

Liberal Food vs. Conservative Food

Kay at the Internet Food Association website has found a survey by Hunch.com , a site that uses “collective knowledge” to answer questions, on “food-related preferences” by those on either side of the political spectrum. While there is probably more to it all than just political leaning, like urban or rural and educational level, it’s worth taking a look at because it seems to make sense. For instance, liberals prefer arugula and “bistro-style” fries while conservatives like iceberg lettuce and McDonald's fries. It's telling that conservatives classify Velveeta as “cheese” and accept Iceberg lettuce as an adequate means of eating plants. It is surely not scientific but I found it entertaining to read through. Do your food preferences echo your political philosophy? Mine pretty much do.

BTW both liberals and conservative seem to think bacon double cheeseburgers are delish.

Something Worth Reading

Josh Marshall points us to a powerful piece by a Daily News reporter on his meeting with President Obama at Arlington yesterday. Powerful piece . It's not long, but well worth a minute or two of your time.I am not ashamed to say that it left me a little misty.

Change in the Air?

There have been scores of anonymously-sourced reports alleging one thing or another about President Obama's next step with respect to the future of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. I may be completely wrong but it seems to me as if the President is finally beginning to realize that he is in a 'no win' situation and that the old axiom that says "Afghanistan is where empires go to die" is the hard truth and throwing more American blood and treasure onto the sands there is not the answer. Couple this with the latest 'leaked' cable from Ret. Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, who has put in writing his "reservations about deploying additional troops to the country." Eikenberry is not just some diplomatic functionary, he was recently the top American military commander in the country and his concern lends credence to the this AP report suggesting that the president has been presented with a series of options, none of which he finds compelling.

President Barack Obama won't accept any of the Afghanistan war options before him without changes, a senior administration official said, as concerns soar over the ability of the Afghan government to secure its own country one day. [...]

He remains close to announcing his revamped war strategy -- troops are just one component -- and probably will do so shortly after he returns from a trip to Asia that ends Nov. 19.

Yet in Wednesday's pivotal war council meeting, Obama wasn't satisfied with any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, one official said.

The president instead pushed for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government. In turn, that could change the dynamic of both how many additional troops are sent to Afghanistan and what the timeline would be for their presence in the war zone, according to the official.

The DoD is trying to push the president into escalating the U.S. presence with help from Clinton, Gates and others. President Obama seems to realize that he is being rushed and he is pushing back and that is a good thing. Somewhere I read that the President is seriously concerned with seeing results and getting out or put another way "wants to know where the off-ramps are."

The Pentagon and 'chickenhawks' aren't going to like this and you are going to see another round of complaints about 'dithering'. So be it. I am firmly convinced that Afghanistan is a lost cause and that we should be pulling out as fast as we can. Our efforts in the area should be at stabilizing Pakistan, a nuclear threat, and leaving Afghanistan to its own miserable devices. It's nice to be the 'Lone Ranger' to the world when there is hope of accomplishing something positive but a lost cause is a lost cause and the sooner you stop digging the better.

Like a Bad Penny

Now that CNN has solved their 'Dobbs' problem where do you think he will show up? Politics? Are we going to see a Palin/Dobbs or Pawlenty/Dobbs ticket from the GOP in 2012? My bet is FAUX News. Regardless, you can bet that 'like a bad penny' he'll be back.

Hopeless

You can well imagine that I really don't think much of Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina. He has been a leading GOP whack job for years and years, first in the Congress and now as a Senator. It appears, however, that he is not a total ass and that has caused him to find unanimous disfavor with the Republicans in his home state.

The Charleston Post and Courier reports that Charleston County Republican Party's executive committee has voted unanimously to censure South Carolina GOP Senator Lindsey Graham for continuing " to weaken the Republican brand and tarnish the ideals of freedom, rule of law, and fiscal conservatism."

What was this heinous crime? It seems that Mr. Graham has made the mistake of reaching across the aisle to Senator John Kerry and co-authoring an op-ed in the New York Times that laid out a framework for climate legislation and described a "blueprint for a clean-energy future that will revitalize our economy, protect current jobs and create new ones, safeguard our national security and reduce pollution."

The two treasonous Senators called for:

- Aggressive reductions in emissions.

• Nuclear power as a core component of electricity generation.
  
• Financial incentives for carbon capture and sequestration.
  
• Additional domestic oil and gas production.
  
• Ensuring that U.S. companies are not put at a competitive disadvantage.
  
• Establishing a floor and a ceiling for the cost of emission allowances.

What's even worse, and this was probably the straw that sent the mouth breathers back home over the edge, was that they had the unmitigated gall to further align their argument with national security, of all things:

Both of us served in the military. We know that sending nearly $800 million a day to sometimes-hostile oil-producing countries threatens our security. In the same way, many scientists warn that failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will lead to global instability and poverty that could put our nation at risk.

All snark aside. This action by the idiots in the state just North of me illustrates why moving the country forward in the current political situation is going to darn near impossible. That Senator Graham would be censured for such a reasonable act of bipartisanship speaks volumes to the intransigence of what seems to be left of the old Republican party. How are we going to move anything positive forward when what's left of the GOP see all attempts at finding a bi-partisan solution on any issue as something not far from treason?

Flooding Update

It finally quit raining and I ventured out to check on the garden. Mother Nature foiled me again. The nice ditch I dug to divert the runoff from the West got clogged with leaves and the rushing water charged right through the middle of the freshly tilled garden and made its own ditch. I am basically back to square one. Going to have to rethink the water control effort. Estimate is that we got about 5 inches during the last 24 hours and thank goodness it doesn't happen often, well except twice in the last two months.

Veteran's Day

To all my fellow veterans: Thank you for your service and sacrifice.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae(1872 - 1918)